Reigning Indian Super League champion Mumbai City FC has been placed in Group B of the 2022 AFC Champions League group stage at the official draw in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. Mumbai City joins the group alongside Al Jazira of the UAE, Saudi Arabia's Al- Shabab and Air Force Club of Iraq.
Mumbai City FC, which qualified for the 2022 AFC Champions League by winning the ISL 2020-21 League Winners' Shield, will compete in Asia's biggest club football competition from the west region for the first time and will become only the second Indian club to do so.
"40 teams were drawn in 10 groups of four teams each at the draws, with five groups (A-E) in the west region and five groups (F-J) in the East region," a statement issued by the club said.
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As per the revised schedule released by the AFC earlier this week, the group stages of the west region will be played from April 7 to April 27 with double round-robin matches at one centralised venue, keeping in mind health and safety restrictions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Confirmed fixture dates and the venue for Mumbai City's 2022 AFC Champions League group stage games will be announced in due course.
"We are very excited. As a coach and as players, we always want to compete with the best and participating in the AFC Champions League allows us to do so," Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham said.
"Now that we know our opponents, our objective will be to get to the AFC Champions League off the back of a successful ISL. So, our focus will be to do well with the task we have at hand right now, and when we get to the AFC Champions League, we want to make sure we represent Mumbai well and give a good showing of Indian football on the Asian stage."
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